The Tale of Isobel and Gaston LeGume
by The Princess of Pain
Summary: It's like this. Belle isn't Her, there's a reason no one wears blue, and Gaston just wants Isobel back. Or, a prequel to Beauty and the Beast not involving The Beauty or The Beast. OC/Gaston Warning:Miscarriage and Character Death
1. The Tale Of Isobel and Gaston LeGume

Summary: It's like this. Belle isn't Her, there's a reason no one wears blue, and Gaston just wants Isobel back. Or, a prequel to Beauty and the Beast not involving Beauty or Beast.

Any of the locals could tell you about Isobel. She was beautiful, with long brown hair that was often pulled up into a complex braid by Claudette, Paulette, and Laurette. She had eyes the color of honey and she had a voice that matched. She rarely wore any color other than blue. She was kind to everyone, and treated everyone (even Le Fou) with respect. The whole village loved her. She was their darling. So, it was not very surprising when she and Gaston, the most loved boy in the town, eventually got engaged after the two tiptoeing around each other for years. Her parents had been delighted of course, a strapping young man with nice manners and a grudging respect for her father's profession, though it was well known to everyone that Gaston would rather shoot a goose then read a book. To be fair, he did try. But anything that did not have pictures did not interest him. Still, the effort he put in to date the Librarian's daughter so he was good enough for her in her Father's eyes was sweet of him.

They spent all their time together. Every day they would do something different. Sometimes she would read to him. Sometimes he took her to the shooting range. She appeared to be a natural with a gun, though she refused to hunt. Gaston teasingly accused her of ruining all his fun and took Le Fou with him. They would even take walks through the fields surrounding their little town, discussing their wedding plans. The two of them were practically inseparable, and it was unlikely to see Isobel's short blue clothed form without Gaston's tall red one. They were completely in love with each other.

Isobel and Gaston were married on a Thursday. She wore a color other than blue and she looked more innocent than she should in white. Le Fou, who was Gaston's best man, kept saying "Congratulations!" and Isobel's father kept clapping him on the shoulder. Gaston thinks that he has never been more in love with her, and has never said words with such a meaning as he had when he vowed to love her forever.

Isobel and Gaston come back with an unexpected addition; a mutt Isobel found scrounging in their trash outside the cabin they were Honeymooning in. After begging Gaston to keep him (and Gaston knowing a losing fight) Isobel named him Hugo. Though Gaston insisted that he wouldn't care for the dog, before the end of the month the two could be found hunting together. Isobel never said anything, but noticed that Hugo often carried around bones from Gaston's hunts.

Things only got better when Isobel announced that she was pregnant. Gaston was so excited. He was so sure it would be a boy, even though Isobel insisted it was a girl. They told everyone in the village and the women gushed to Isobel while Gaston was surrounded with shoulder clasps and handshakes. Life couldn't have been better. Everything was perfect for Isobel and Gaston LeGume.

Nine months later Gaston is pacing outside his house with Hugo and LeFou watching him, as Isobel screamed in the background. He wanted to be with her, but the Midwife had shooed him away, saying that it was something that he wasn't needed for. So here he paced for what seemed like hours until the Midwife came out with a solemn look on her face. She gently drew him aside and quietly told him that the baby hadn't survived. Gaston immediately moved toward the house to comfort Isobel, not even hearing the Midwife as she called out to him. He went in the house and walked into their bedroom,

"Isobel?" He called, only to freeze at the sight of a white cloth covering his unmoving wife's body. He sunk to the floor and started to cry, because his wife and child were dead. He and the Village mourned for the loss of the beautiful woman and her lost child. On the outskirts of town between the Library and the Forest lied Isobel and her child, buried together with a pretty marble tombstone fitting for the wonderful woman beneath it. In remembrance of Isobel, no one wore blue in the town, for it only brought on memories of her. It wasn't until three years later that someone broke the tradition.

Three years later, Belle and Moe moved to their town. Everyone had gasped at their first sight of Belle, book in hand with her blue dress fluttering softly in the wind. Murmurs broke out, not about a woman reading (Though that was plenty odd too, especially for someone who was so new to town), but at the fact that she looked just like Isobel. The girl could be her twin. It brought one word to the forefront of everyone's mind and they whispered it in hushed tones "Doppelganger". Everyone kept their thoughts to themselves though, thinking it was to insane, to impossible to be true, when Gaston's voice rang out,

"Isobel?"

He was by her side in a second. He reached out towards her, looking as though he was drowning. Isobel smiled at him uneasily and grasped his hand in hers, shaking it. "My name is Belle." She corrected. Gaston stared at her, seeming to study her every feature. The whole town watched as the light in his eyes that had been gone for three years only to shine briefly at the sight of the new girl, dim again. He let go of her hand and shuffled back, tripping on the cobblestone road.

He crashed into the ground hard, and Belle moved to help him, but before she could a small man was wrapping his arms around him, trying to soothe him, and Belle realized as she saw his shoulders jerk that he was crying silently. The smaller of the two whispered something in his ear that Belle couldn't hear, and the bigger man clutched something in his hand tightly before gently but firmly pushing the smaller man away. He stood up, took one last look at her, whistled to a dog she only just now noticed, muttered something under his breath and headed to what looked to be a tavern with the dog by his side.

That day, Gaston swore that his Isobel had come back to him. He vowed to never be apart from her again. She would have everything that she ever wanted, and maybe he would finally be able to see his son this time. Or maybe a daughter. Isobel had always wanted a daughter.

A/N: My attempt to make Gaston a relatable human being and not some Asshat. So, Gaston was obsessed with Belle for a reason. He just wants his love back. This does explain why he's always presuming so much about Belle. Everything he talks about is what he and Isobel wanted together. The thing he's holding in the end is Isobel's wedding ring. Might make a second one, if someone like's this.

I, as always remain your obedient servant,

P.O.P


	2. The Inadequacy of Belle Le Beauté

Disclaimer: I still don't own Beauty and The Beast.

Gaston hadn't mean to stab him. Really, he didn't. It was widely known Gaston had a temper, and he supposed that was the reason he was currently falling. He had let his temper get the best of him. The beast had done him no wrong. He might even be as docile as she claimed he was.

Her. Iso-No. Belle. She wasn't Isobel, no matter how much he wished for her to be. Maybe that was where he went wrong. He knew when she was alive Isobel had a tendency to humor him. He also knew that for all he wished her to be, Belle wasn't anything like her.

So, they both were readers. And they were both generous sweet girls. Not to mention they looked so much alike it was hard to believe they weren't twins. He would think he was crazy had other people not remarked on her resemblance (Isobel's father in particular, he noticed, grew fond of Belle because of her likeness to his deceased daughter). He had stupidly assumed they were the same person, attempting to court Belle in the same fashion he had courted Isobel, while also trying to fix what Isobel always said were his flaws.

She said he never had enough confidence, so he made it a point to be more assertive towards Belle. Reading books had not saved Isobel, so why should Belle read them? Isobel loved it when he flexed, and listened when he talked about his hunts, so he made sure to do so as much as possible around Belle. Surely, they were so alike they would wish to be courted similarly? He even proposed to Belle exactly the way he had proposed to Isobel.

But it didn't work. Belle refused to go on walks with him. She seemed upset when he plucked a book from her hands to look at it a and offended when he asked where the pictures were (Isobel always loved books with brilliant illustrations), huffing when he teasingly held it above her head. She didn't jump for it with playful annoyance on her face like Isobel, but instead stomped away while he watched her, confused. Couldn't she take a joke?

And then, she had run away after his proposal. Poor Maurice went mad with grief, claiming she was kidnapped by a monstrous beast. He had stared into the man's eyes and seen the desperation, the conviction that what he said rang true, inside those sad familiar eyes. Eyes he saw when he woke up in the morning (not as The Great Gaston, but simply the widower who had lost his wife and child) and looked in the mirror. And what had he done? He'd thrown the old man out into the cold. Some great hero he was!

He was not proud of what he had done next. Bribing the man who led the sanitarium to take Maurice away, to try to get Belle to marry him. He'd thrown LeFou into the unforgiving winds to wait for the girl to return. She came back, and he thought she just might agree to his proposal. But instead she spoke of the same beast her father did. And when he showed disbelief, she showed them an ornate mirror that contained the beast's image. He was ugly, but some part of him felt sympathy. He looked like Hugo, Isobel's mutt. He almost let it go, looked up to tell her that when he saw the love in her eyes.

Gaston wished he didn't remember more. That the red leaking into his vision was justified, but it really wasn't (she couldn't love him, but she could love a beast? She couldn't be Isobel?). He snatched the mirror from her hands and showed the beast to the crowd. Told lies, and riled them up. When Belle pleaded, he sneered down at her, and told the villagers to lock her in her father's workshop before asking the mirror to lead them to the beast.

He gripped Isobel's wedding ring in his hand, knowing that this hunt might be his last. But by god he would kill the beast that took his second chance away from him. He started up the steps, ignoring the villagers being attacked by furniture, his eyes for the prize. He walked up steps, and turned a corner, only to come face to face with the ugly thing.

His eyes were humanoid, and they made Gaston uncomfortable. He fought with the beast, his mind a jumbled blur of hit, switch, parry, block, until a clawed hand around his throat stopped him. He struggled for a second before going limp. He felt the beast's paw on his neck tighten and he wheezed as his vision started to go dark. He thought of Isobel, and smiled. He could almost hear her voice. The beast dropped him, and he saw him go up, crawling towards (who he thought in his oxygen deprived mind was) Isobel. Gaston gasped, and in a chance to distract him, he grabbed the dagger from his boot and dug it into the monster's back. It let out a howl of pain that sounded so human he let go of his only foothold in shock. As he slipped and fell from the roof, that last thing Gaston saw was Isobel's horrified face.

 _Isobel. Forgive me for what I've done._

Gaston closed his eyes and the ground.

 _A/N: Hello again! After reading all your supportive reviews (thanks to MostEvilIceQueen, Nytisk Nighthide, Alex2001, RaphFANgirl – T, Anonymous, and one guest for reviewing) and seeing how many people Favorited (thanks for the 34 fav's) and 7 follows (thanks!) I decided to make this story a three shot. The next one coming up is primarily about Belle, and as these are chronological, it is set after the curse breaks. It might be a little while (stupid writers block) but I promise you guys I will finish this. Let me know what you thought of this one though!_

 **Up Next: Feeling trapped inside the castle walls, Belle goes for a walk around the castle. There, she finds LeFou and discovers something about Gaston. Legitimately a major character death warning, because someone dies, and melancholy is my flavor of the month.**


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